There are five days remaining the the current New Mexico legislative session and a recent interview by KOB4 shows us what Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham thinks of what’s going on in Albuquerque. In some ways, she’s frustrated with a lack of progress, but when it comes to her anti-gun bills, she says things are going better than she expected.
Surprisingly, her biggest problem regarding the bills seems to be people who are even further to the left than she is, especially when it comes to criminal justice issues. They agree with her on gun control (of course), and are moving those bills right along, but when as for the criminal justice reforms she says she wants, they get debate time countable in seconds and then get tabled.
As for the better proposals from New Mexico Republicans, they don’t even get to the debate stage.
When asked whether she’s taking the wrong approach on guns by focusing on weapons used in rare mass shootings instead of focusing on Albuquerque’s crime problem (which are mostly committed with pistols), she sidestepped the question and goes straight for the tired “weapons of war” talking points, claiming that handguns already aren’t accessible to teens. That flies in the face of current anti-gun messaging, while at the same time being characteristically confuing and muddled.
When asked about underlying issues like mental health and the economy, the Governor says that Medicaid has been reformed to provide more resources and that there’s a bill going through that will make it easier for judges to commit people with mental health issues and addiction.
After playing part of the interview, KOB4 — in an act of wanton, unprovoked journalism — cut away to gave viewers the real data showing that the governor was wrong both about both guns and mental health. Go figure.
On guns, they showed that during the past year, Albuquerque’s metro area saw 348 crimes committed with pistols and 21 with revolvers, making for a total of 369 crimes that weren’t long guns. Only 35 rifles were used in crimes, and 18 shotguns. Statewide, they used percentages (probably because Albuquerque is where most of the crimes occur). Crimes committed with long guns represent only 2-3% of the total. Again, that’s dwarfed by both handguns and things like GLOCKs with switches (something I’ve seen in my own neighborhood).
On mental health, they showed that there are hundreds of people taking advantage of a “pre-prosecution diversion program” that encourages mental health treatment over running someone through the court system. They also pointed out that important issues like reforming the child protective services system and addressing teen violence aren’t getting into the legislature this year.
So, in other words, they basically said, “You’re full of crap, Governor.”
Guns Seem To Be Sucking All The Oxygen Out Of The Roundhouse
KOB4 is, of course, right. The Governor and the California move-ins who agree with her on guns focus completely on the wrong things. Drug-addicted, impoverished, untreated people are causing a crime wave in the state, largely in the Albuquerque metro area. They’re using pistols and modified pistols to commit crimes.
The Democrats, however, know that they can’t get away with cracking down on pistols and the “progressives” even further to the left of Grisham won’t let here solve any of the actual problems, let alone jail the perpetrators.
Basically, what we have here in New Mexico is a governor and a legislature that together are doing almost nothing about crime, spending scarce legislative time to focus on things that have little to nothing to do with the majority of the state’s crime problem and won’t solve it in any way.
Really, that’s probably not even her intention. Gov. Grisham wants guns that would be useful against an out-of-control government to be banned, not the guns used in crimes against citizens. If anything, letting the crime problem escalate helps raise support for more government power and “doing something” about “assault weapons” so it’s politically profitable to let the situation continue to fester.